The Smuggler and the Jedi
by enginerd01
Summary: Clarke, a well-known smuggler, has an unexpected run in with a beautiful Jedi, Lexa, which leads her on a crazy journey across the galaxy full of bad guys, light sabers, and the Death Star. Oh my! (Written before Star Wars VII. Six chapters.)


**SUMMARY:** Clarke, a well-known smuggler, has an unexpected run in with a beautiful Jedi, Lexa, which leads her on a crazy journey across the galaxy full of bad guys, light sabers, and the Death Star. Oh my! Five chapters and an Epilogue.

 **AN:** This is a repost of my story from Archive of our Own as some folks enjoy this platform better. This was written before the Force Awakens so it's not canon with that story. Also I will not pretend to be any sort of Star Wars expert so if you are one, please forgive my mistakes. Enjoy the ride! This was a blast to write!

 **Chapter 1:**

Clarke let the dark liquid slide down her parched throat. She could feel the slight burn as it made its way down her stomach, a small grimace forming on her mouth due to the bitterness of the drink.

It was a hot day and she was sitting in a dingy bar on the planet Bleno, a humid rainy planet that made her feel like she was breathing under water. Her clothes were sticking to her awkwardly and she could feel sweat beads falling down her back.

She looked at her analog watch on her wrist, her frown growing deeper. Her mark was late and she was stuck waiting. She needed to drop off the sword, get paid, and then get the hell out of there.

Her eyes discretely scanned the crowd of patrons, always aware of her exits and potential threats.

As she was working on the second glass of scotch, a tall, scrawny man blocked her line of site and sat uninvited at her round table in the corner. His fiery red hair paired with unshaven, rough skin and rotten teeth made for an unsightly appearance.

"Got the sword?" He spoke with a slow drawl that was more in place in an old western film that Clarke had seen as a kid back in Alderaan. 'Before it had been blown to shit,' Clarke thought sadly as she shook herself from the memory and brought her attention back to the man.

Clarke grunted and glanced to the concealed package to her right. He made a move to grab it but not before Clarke clutched his hand, slamming it against the table, her other hand holding a knife to the man's throat.

"Hey, hey now! I was just making sure it was there. You know, make sure you weren't scamming me or nothing." He lifted his hands in the air in mock surrender, running one hand through his unkempt red hair.

"Money." Clarke demanded. She'd learned a long time ago, the longer these transactions go on the more likely someone was going to end up hurt. More often than not, it was Clarke walking away with a new scar or broken bone. 'But she always won,' she mused proudly.

The guy fidgeted a little and reached into his coat pocket. Clarke sat up straighter, her left hand going to her blaster holstered on her thigh.

Clarke watched his gaze flick to something over her shoulder and Clarke knew instantly that something was about to go horribly wrong. Catching a glimpse of another man with a determined angry expression stalking towards her in the reflection of a glass picture frame, Clarke spun quickly and swept the chair she was sitting in back, hitting him squarely in the knee caps. A satisfied cracking noise sounded as the man doubled over in pain.

She threw a hard punch down with her right hand, and got a blaster shot off with her left hand to the knee. He was incapacitated and writhing in pain.

'One down', Clarke thought as she whirled to find the original, red headed man.

To her dismay, she saw that he had grabbed the sword and was making a break for the exit while two other men came stalking towards her.

"You've got to be kidding me," Clarke growled, frustrated.

Clarke ducked their advances and gave off two quick shots with her blaster – one landing near the collarbone, the other in the lower abdomen. Both fell screaming in pain.

With them down, Clarke was in pursuit.

The bar was quickly dissolving into chaos with screams and people starting to run. If she didn't get to him soon she'd be lost in the trample of the crowd. Spotting the familiar red hair about 10 paces away she was hot on his tail. Pushing a screaming woman aside, she used the woman's abandoned chair as leverage and jumped in the air, tackling the man as he was midstride.

Hitting him squarely in the back, they rolled to the ground, Clarke desperately trying for the upper hand. Even though the man was scrawny, he was still strong. He had her pinned in seconds and was about to deliver a knockout blow when suddenly the man was out cold. A blaster shot hitting him squarely between the eyes. Looking toward the source she saw Raven on the ramp of the starship, looking up from the scope of the rifle.

Clarke breathed a quick sigh of relief, grabbed the sword and did a quick pat down of the man. Finding the bills neatly folded in his left pocket she grabbed them and ran towards the starship as another man went in to try to grab her.

"Raven, get the starship going!" Clarke shouted over the noise, working to beat back the offender.

She kicked him off just enough to get free and sprinted full tilt at the ramp of the starship. The starship started up with a loud roar and began to lift into the sky.

"Awe shit!" Clarke said, realizing she was going to have to jump for it.

Throwing the sword on to the starship and holstering her blaster she jumped for it, grabbing the edge of the ramp, her legs swinging wildly under her as the starship got hire. She felt her arms strain as she clawed into the bay. She finally got enough leverage and lifted her left leg and then her right onto the ramp as the ship got higher and higher. She rolled into the bay and breathed a sigh of relief.

After several seconds, she stood and turned back to look back toward the ground, seeing the angry group below shouting obscenities in several different languages.

She smiled and waved sweetly at them as she pushed a button for the hatch door to shut. Once the door was secured, she made her way farther into the starship.

The ship, as Clarke liked to call it, wasn't exactly luxury but it would do. She'd won it in a back alley poker game when she was 16. It was one of those hands where she'd either be sold into slavery or happily captaining a starship. Luckily she won.

It had two sleeping compartments, a small kitchen, a living space, and a sizeable cockpit, but the real magic was under the hood. It was still one of the fastest ships in the galaxy even though it was an older model. This was likely due to the several modifications the resident mechanic, Raven, made to ship.

Raven joined Clarke not long after she won the starship. Another run away trying to escape her past looking for an escape and Clarke was happy to provide that after she learned of her mechanical prowess. Without her, this ship would have been junked a long time ago.

'That was over 10 years ago' Clarke thought, shaking her head at the memories.

"How we doing?" Clarke asked coming into the cockpit.

"Did you get the money?" Raven asked, eyes not leaving the flying panel.

"Yup. And got to keep the sword…although what the hell am I going to do with a sword?" Clarke said collapsing into the co-pilot's chair.

Raven shrugged counting the bills that Clarke had handed over.

After a sigh, Raven looked up, "That was close, Clarke. Too close."

"Yeah, definitely didn't intend for that to erupt into chaos…again" Clarke added as an afterthought.

"I'm tired of these shitty runs. The next one better be fool proof. We get in, we get paid, we get out. All this running for our lives is putting a damper on the living past 30 thing." Raven said.

"Yup. I agree. Speaking of the next job. We got anything?" Clarke said letting herself relax now that they were starting to get into the atmosphere.

"No, not yet. Go get something to eat, I'll holler if I hear anything."

"Roger that," Clarke said jokingly but allowed herself to get up and make her way to the kitchen.

She looked through the cupboards and made a mental note that they needed to resupply soon. After much rummaging, she found some dried noodles and began to boil a pot of water.

Leaning against the counter and closing her eyes, she finally let herself breathe. 'That was close…" Clarke thought, a frown forming on her face.

The whistle from the primitive kettle rang and Clarke lifted it from the heating plate, pouring it expertly over her noodles in the bowl. She found herself lost in thought as she stared at the expanding noodles, letting the steam waft towards her face.

A loud ring from the cockpit brought her out of her musings so she grabbed some chopsticks and bowl of noodles to learn who was calling.

"Yeah?" Raven answered, her tone clipped.

A small hologram popped up in the Holocomm display.

"Raven, Clarke, I see that you are doing well." It was Jaha, one of their clients that they routinely went on jobs for. He wore long white robes and a politicians smile; one where you didn't quite know if it was sincere or not.

Clarke slipped back into her no-nonsense mask and grunted a nonsensical reply. Raven stayed silent preferring that Clarke handle these things.

"Right, I have a job for you." Jaha said, letting the pleasantries end. A picture of a man popped into the hazy blue hologram film, "This is Kyle Wick. He's been kidnapped and I need you to find him and return him to me."

Clarke raised an eyebrow and looked further at the picture. It was man around their age with blonde hair and an unshaven face. From first glance he didn't look exceptional at all.

"What'd he do?" Clarke asked skeptically, her eyebrows furrowed at Jaha.

"That is not of your concern. He needs to be found and returned. The last known whereabouts were on Hoth." Jaha's tone was cryptic. He didn't want to discuss further.

"How much?" Clarke asked.

"100,000 creds."

Clarke whistled, "100K huh? And you're not going to tell me anymore than you need me to find him and return him. Must be worth a bunch to you."

"Take the job or not. I can find another bounty hunter that will do it."

Raven shot Clarke a glance. A 100,000 creds was a lot of money. The starship desperately needed that money and they could finally relax for a moment – take a vacation. With a discrete nod to Raven and a confirmation nod back, Clarke turned her attention back to the hologram.

"Alright, we're in. Send me that picture."

Jaha nodded and immediately hung up.

"100,000 creds, Clarke. I hope we aren't about to jump into a shit show." Raven said concerned.

"Oh I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it's about to be. So much for wanting our next job to be easy." Clarke said while putting in the coordinates for Hoth.

Raven sighed and said, "Let's go get our boy," as she pushed the button for light speed.

It was a three day flight to Hoth, the cold ice filled planet.

Clarke shivered against the cold as she brought her robes tighter around her body. She hated the cold.

Clarke nodded goodbye to Raven, who went to go fuel up the ship and resupply, and proceeded further into the small alcove city.

Seeing a seedy looking bar, Clarke hurriedly walked in, shaking out her robes from the damp cold. Her eyes quickly scanned the patrons, learning a long time ago that if you wanted to find trouble, find the dingiest bar imaginable and start asking questions. After a quick glance, she knew she was in the right place as everyone was keeping to themselves or talking in low, hushed tones.

She caught the eye of a Twi'lek man, their distinctive floppy horn like tendrils that came out of their head differentiating them, and jutted her chin out in defiance. He scoffed and looked back towards his conversation. Clarke sighed inwardly, there was only so much she could do to win street cred with blonde hair and a curvy body.

Making her way towards the bar, she confidently ordered a drink and continued to scan the crowd. She caught the eye of a woman in the corner that was attempting to blend into the surroundings with a hood covering most of her face. All that was visible was an obscure view of an angular chin, wavy brown hair and a single exquisite green eye.

Clarke caught the eye of the stranger, giving her a half smirk that caused the woman to look away which only made Clarke's heart beat faster. Any other time Clarke would be pursuing the mysterious stranger but today she had business so she reluctantly let her eyes continue to roam.

They landed on a man with sharp short demon like horns and pale brown skin. 'A Zabrak. Those are always fun.' Clarke thought as she caught the man's gaze. It was one of unfriendliness and underlying anger.

'Bingo.' Clarke thought. Taking a swig from her drink, she confidently strolled over to the angered man.

"This seat taken?" Clarke asked letting herself sit in the open chair across from the man.

The Zabrak held her gaze, his eyebrows furrowing in angry.

Clarke ignored the look and continued, "Looking for a human man - Kyle Wick - you know where I can find him?"

The man gave no indication that he had heard her, so Clarke decided to be an ass. 'That always gets a reaction.'

She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, "Hey! Did you hear me? Looking for a guy – Kyle Wick. You lot always seem to find the trouble so where is he?"

Clarke realized a split second too late that maybe this was a horrible idea as his gaze turned from one of unamused anger to uncontrollable rage. Suddenly the table flipped and the man let out a horrifying scream.

"Oh shit!" Clarke said backpedaling quickly her hand going to the blaster immediately.

The bar was beginning to fold rapidly into chaos as Clarke attempted to diffuse the situation.

"Hey, hey. Let's be cool." She was back peddling slowly towards the exit, refusing to draw her weapon as she knew that would lead to even further chaos.

Clarke allowed herself to cast a quick glance at the beautiful stranger from earlier who was continuing to sip her drink in the corner as if nothing was happening.

'What the hell is wrong with her? She needs to get out of here!' She thought concerned.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Zabrak make a move, a brown clawed hand slashed wildly where she had just sidestepped.

"Look, I'm just looking for my friend. If you don't know where he is, then no worries, we can carry on with our separate lives." Clarke almost pleaded. She wasn't in the mood for a fight having still being sore from the fight in Bleno.

The Zabrak let out a raging scream and rushed towards her again but this time, Clarke sidestepped him and brought him down with an easy trip.

"Hey! Chill out!"

Suddenly his clawed hand shot out, cutting her superficially in the calf.

She was pissed now.

With a quick kick to the head, she jumped on his flat back and straddled him. She grabbed his horns and lifted him up, holding a knife to his throat.

"Where is Kyle Wick?" Clarke asked, venom in her voice.

He began spitting out obscenities in his native tongue and Clarke held the blade closer to his neck, letting it pierce the skin slightly.

"The common tongue." Clarke spit back, her patience gone as she felt the blood trickle down her leg.

"Eligos has him." The Zabrak finally relented.

"Good. Where is Eligos?" Clarke said, eyes filled with ferocity.

"Mustafar." The Zabrak grunted.

Clarke got off him slowly, "See now that wasn't so hard was it." Wiping the blood from her blade on his robe, she sheathed it easily.

She began her walk out when she heard the sound of a lightsaber being unsheathed and a blood curdling scream. Looking back she saw the cut off hand of the Zabrak demon clutching a blaster that was surly pointed at her and the mysterious green eyed stranger standing guard, green lightsaber at the ready.

"Oh shit," Clarke said not amused and made a break for the door. She and Jedi didn't exactly have a good history what with her being an… _entrepreneur_.

Clarke made it outside and started a quick jog toward the market, knowing that she could lose her in the crowd. Making it past several booths without trouble, she discretely grabbed a scarf from an unsuspecting stand and put it over her face to protect it from the harsh cold and put her hood up to hide her distinctive blonde hair.

Thinking she was home free, she allowed herself to relax. She started to make her way back towards the starship when suddenly the mysterious stranger stopped her in her tracks.

"Most people thank me when I save their lives." The woman said a hint of a smile on her face.

"Yeah, well I'm not most people." Clarke smiled, guarded, eyes darting to find her exits. Her hand moved slowly towards her blaster on her thigh and she attempted to casually side step the Jedi.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the stranger tilted her head toward Clarke's blaster.

Clarke crossed her arms and allowed herself to go into a relaxed stance. If she couldn't blast her way out then she'll talk her way out.

Meeting the other woman's gaze, she said, "So what do you want, Jedi?"

"It's Lexa. Follow me, too many people here." Lexa said looking out toward the large, crowded market. Clarke recognized after a few paces, that they were still heading back in the direction of where her ship sat idle.

Clarke hesitated, she knew she had to go that way but wasn't exactly fond of going that way with a Jedi. She had a reputation to protect.

"That's not a request." Lexa said over her shoulder, her stride never changing.

"Shit." Clarke said under her breath and began to follow the other woman, her boots sloshing loudly in the snow.

During the walk, Clarke allowed herself to admire the stranger. She was wearing khaki colored skinny pants with worn brown boots and the traditional Jedi tunic. Her brown hooded robe that expertly covered her face earlier, fell loosely over her shoulders now as if the cold didn't bother her. She found herself staring at the other woman's backside as she walked, watching her sway with an easy confidence like she was ready for any challenge the galaxy may bring.

Lexa led them to a quieter part of town where the starships usually refueled. Stopping abruptly, she turned them into a dark alley that shielded them from the harsh wind. Seeming satisfied with the location, she turned her attention back to Clarke.

"What do you want with Eligos?" The Jedi asked, eyes boring into Clarke.

"Never heard of him until today." Clarke kept her tone and words short. She didn't like being the accused.

"Why start a fight in a bar then?" Lexa said, a perplexed look on her face.

"Look lady, I don't know who you are, nor do I care. I'm just trying to find my friend. Let's just call it a day. You stay out of my way, I stay out of yours. Cool?" She settled her gaze on the open green eyes. It was unnerving. Like the woman could see through her soul.

Lexa shook her head, "No. I don't think I like that plan. What were you doing in that bar?"

Clarke sighed, trying to keep her anger in check. "What does it matter?"

"Is that something you routinely do? Come into an establishment and put a knife to an innocent Zabrak's face."

Clarke scoffed, "Never heard of the word 'Zabrak' and 'innocent' used in the same sentence. Nice one."

Lexa was losing her patience which was not an easy feat for a Jedi. "Would you like me to go get the Zabrak to have him explain what you were asking?"

Clarke mocked the request. "Yeah, why don't you go do that? I'm sure he'd love to talk to you about his missing hand."

Lexa's frustration won; she pushed the other woman against the wall. Holding her tightly with her body weight and hands.

Clarke grunted and pretended to not feel the shiver in her body. 'Stupid libido.'

"What do you want with Eligos?" Lexa practically spat.

Clarke made a move to try to grab her knife but her arm was easily held back.

She sighed knowing she was beat, "He's apparently got a friend of mine. I intend to get him back."

She was released in an instant. The stranger turned away from Clarke so Clarke took the opportunity to attempt to grab her blaster. Shocked to find it missing, she brought her accusatory eyes to the Jedi.

"Looking for something?" Lexa said keeping her back turned as she held her gun up in the air haphazardly.

"Shit." Clarke made a move to grab it but was blocked easily by the other woman who had turned while Clarke was midstride and expertly pushed her back into the wall. Clarke grunted again in annoyance.

"Eligos is not a man that you take on by yourself." Lexa said slowly and seriously.

"Yeah, well, been hearing that all my life so not that concerned with it." Clarke dismissed the comment easily.

"He's been known to have ties to the dark side of the force and has been building an army of followers. One person cannot take him on and succeed. It's a suicide mission."

"What do you care? I don't even know who you are." Clarke's expression was turning soar, she was tired of this back and forth.

The other woman straightened and introduced herself more properly this time, putting her arm out for Clarke to shake, "Lexa Woods."

Clarke was taken aback. This was not how she expected her to react, but nevertheless she found herself reaching her hand out and shaking the other woman's hand with skepticism, "Clarke."

"Well Clarke, you can't do it alone and he needs to be stopped. I will help." Lexa said it matter-of-factly like it was the easiest decision in the world.

"Not sure I asked for your help."

"I thought we already decided - If you go alone, you will die. You need my help, Clarke." Lexa's eyes softened as she bore into Clarke's hard blue eyes.

Clarke frowned and started to make her way out of the alley, letting Lexa follow. "Fine."

'This is a horrible idea…' Clarke thought.

Lexa smiled and followed the other woman.

After a quick discussion, they agreed they would take Clarke's starship as it was more discreet and came with a mechanic. Lexa grabbed what supplies she needed and radioed back to the Jedi council to have a Padawan pick it up and fly it back to Corsicana, where the Jedi had a home base.

Making her way into Clarke's starship, the blonde announced, "Home sweet home."

Lexa kept her relaxed expression as she followed her into the ship. Her eyes expertly scanned each corner for possible threats, only settling when she met another set of hard eyes.

"We pick up strays now?" Raven asked leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen area.

"Not exactly. She's going to help us find Eligos." Clarke said, grabbing a piece of fruit from a small bowl.

"And who is Eligos?" Raven said, eyeing the stranger wearily.

"Apparently the baddie who has Wick… our friend… that we've known for years…" Clarke said hoping that Raven would catch on and keep the true nature of their business quiet.

"Uh huh. So where we going, newbie?" Raven asked her wary expression unwavering.

"Lexa." She introduced herself, holding out a hand. "We've received a tip that he is on Mustafar."

Raven looked down at the hand, ignored it and walked into the cockpit.

"She seems friendly," Lexa mused looking at Clarke.

"She takes a little warming up." Clarke said biting into the juicy fruit.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lexa asked innocently but with a curious expression.

Clarke choked on the piece of fruit and began to cough violently, causing Lexa to rush over and begin to rub her back.

After a few moments, she replied through shortened breaths, "Raven and I? No definitely not. Well I mean we tried once but realized that was a horrible idea." Clarke answered awkwardly. Coughing again, she flipped the awkwardness back to the other woman, raising a provocative eyebrow to the other woman, "Why do you care?"

"I-I-I don't. I was just curious." Lexa finished lamely, taking a step back from Clarke.

Clarke leaned back casually a smirk plastered on her face as she settled her gaze on the other woman. 'Maybe the admiration was mutual earlier?' Clarke thought.

"I'm going to go call the council and relay Eligos' whereabouts." Lexa said, hastily removing herself from the situation.

Clarke smirked. 'Maybe having her around isn't such a horrible idea.' Then frowning shaking her head violently, 'No definitely not a good idea, she's a Jedi, Griffin! – She could take you to jail! Get it together!'

Clarke found her way into the cockpit putting distance between her and the new stranger.

"You going to actually tell me why we picked up a stray?" Raven asked with an unforgiving look.

"She's a Jedi."

"What!?" Raven's eyes comically going wide.

"Hush!" Clarke said followed by a 'Shhhhh' noise.

"What the hell are you doing bringing a Jedi on board. If she finds out what we are actually doing, she'll send us to the Prism!"

"Yes I'm very much aware of that. Thank you Raven." Clarke said dryly. "I didn't exactly have a choice. She heard me asking about Wick and the mark said that he was with Eligos. I couldn't exactly not tell her some semblance of the truth."

"I swear Clarke, you get us closer to being killed or arrested every day." Raven said, shaking her head and looking away angrily.

"I know! I know. Let's just get to Mustafar, grab Wick and get the hell out."

Nodding shortly, Raven focused her attention back on her instrumentation ensuring that everything looked good prior to them taking off.

"I'm good to go when you are," Lexa said startling Clarke and Raven. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Jumpy today, you know with all the potential death." Clarke said, easily diffusing the situation.

The flight to Mustafar was relatively quick in galactic terms only taking them half a day to get to the lava like planet via light speed. For the most part, they found themselves lost in their thoughts thinking of what could be coming next. Clarke and Raven did their best to avoid Lexa but Lexa didn't seem to notice, spending most of the flight in deep meditation. It wasn't until they had broken the atmosphere of Mustafar did Lexa open her eyes and decide to find the other two women.

"This planet it cursed." Lexa said, frowning while looking out the small window in the cockpit. "It is where they say Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader." Lexa said as Raven found a small spot to land outside of the prying eyes of the dark complex system of caves that made up the planet.

Clarke opened the hatch door, shielding her eyes and face from the harsh heat and bright red volcanic light. "Yeah, well, I don't believe in curses. Let's get this over with."

Hopping out of the starship and onto the ground, Clarke crouched scanning her surroundings. Lexa followed soon after doing the same.

Together their fierce gazes settled on the small opening in one of the caves. Seeing it unguarded, they slowly stalked toward the opening, eyes peeled for any unwanted movement.

Lexa walked through first, keeping her head and eyes moving. Seeing and hearing several voices, she backed out slowly bumping into Clarke.

Clarke let out a tiny 'oomph' as Lexa whispered, "We've got company."

"Good, that means we're in the right place." Clarke replied.

Making her way to push past the stranger, she found her movement stopped by a strong slender arm.

Clarke settled harsh eyes on the other woman, "What are you doing?"

"You can't just walk in there and demand your friend."

"And why not?" Clarke asked, eyes light with fire.

"Do you have a death wish?" Green eyes filling with concern.

"No! God no! It's just always worked before." Clarke finished lamely, disgusted at the thought. She didn't want to die, she just always seemed to win.

Clarke sighed, "So what's the plan?"

"We wait. We listen and wait."

Clarke made a disgusted noise. Waiting was not her forte.

They crept closer to the door and listened as the voices seemed to fade away indicating that they were walking further into the complex system of caves.

Eyes meeting quickly, they silently agreed to follow.

Creeping along the shadows, Clarke found her heart pounding with fear. She was used to running guns blazing into fights, not really thinking, this was walking very slowly into an awaiting lion's den.

Suddenly she felt a hand grab hers, gasping breathlessly she realized it was just Lexa. Lexa gave a concerned look but pointed to where the light was gathering lowly in a cavern below.

Clarke breathed deep catching her nerves from falling further. She nodded back and continued to follow the Jedi.

Lexa crept them lower into the intricate labyrinth of caves, following the edges precariously. Finally they found themselves close enough to begin to hear some of the conversation. There was one Sith species, distinctive in his red and black skin and horns, and more Zabrak demons with their brown skin and horns.

Lexa pointed out the Sith and whispered into Clarke's ear, "Eligos."

Focusing her attention on the group, Clarke cursed not understanding the foreign guttural language. Lowly Lexa started to translate making Clarke's eyebrows shoot up in admiration. 'Maybe she's more than a pretty face?' Clarke thought.

"What do you mean there is a woman looking for the boy? Do you think I'm scared of a little girl?" Eligos laughed a harsh barking sound. "When do you think the boy will be ready to speak?"

Lexa continued to translate, "Soon, sire. Soon." The Zabrak smiled an ugly smile.

Another Zabrak came running in, "Sire, there is an unauthorized starship that has been discovered!"

Clarke gasped her hand going to her blaster, fear for Raven overcoming her senses. Lexa grabbed her arm to stop her and gave her a harsh, whispered, "Wait!"

Lexa, continued to listen, whispering the translation, "We've picked up a girl who insists she was alone." Minutes later, another couple of Zabrak's brought in Raven, who coughed and had a harsh bruise already forming on her eye, blood dribbling from a fresh cut above her eyebrow. She was hobbling slowly on her left leg, pain evident in her face with each step.

Clarke could feel her blood boil. She pushed Lexa's arm away and began to creep closer toward Raven.

Lexa made a disgruntled noise but followed the other girl. Waiting for a moment when Clarke knew their guard was mostly down, she unsheathed her blaster and leveled it on their leader.

Steading her breathing, she slowly pushed the trigger, a blue blast coming loud and quick through the barrel.

Just before it hit Eligos, his red lightsaber came up and stopped the blast. Dark, angry eyes settled upon Clarke.

"Oh shit…"


End file.
